A kentucky court acknowledged the dual character of slaves in turner v. A brief history of slavery that you didnt learn in school. Slave patrols were backed by laws, courts, businesses, and religious groups. Slave patrols were teams of white men who enforced discipline upon black slaves in southern states during prior to the american civil war. As the population of black slaves increased, so did the fear and threat of foreign invasion which. Policing was not the only social institution enmeshed in slavery. Jun 05, 2019 the first slave patrols arose in south carolina in the early 1700s. The development of policing in the united states closely followed the development of policing in england. Police training should start with a history lesson on slavery. Placide, macherie and harris, duchess, from slave patrols to jim crow laws. These slave codes included measures, for instance, where a slave could not be off a plantation without a specific pass from the master. Never exceeding a few ships in number, the patrol, which from time to time included the uss constitution,uss constellation, uss saratoga and uss yorktown.
These slave patrols were responsible for controlling, returning, and punishing runaway slaves. The first formal slave patrol was created in the carolina colonies in 1704 reichel 1992. Alabamas revised code, adopted in 1852 and in effect until the end of the civil war, built on a previous code from 1833. Spruill professor of history, morehouse college abstract this paper explores the slave origins of southern law enforcement and an overlooked legacy of antebellum slave patrolling revealed in the 2015 department of justice report. Publications national criminal justice reference service. The similarities between the slave patrols and modern american policing are too salient to dismiss or ignore. Slave patrols called patrollers, patterrollers, pattyrollers or paddy rollers, by the slaves, were organized groups of armed white men who monitored and enforced discipline upon black slaves in the antebellum u. Composed of white men who took turns covering a particular area of their county, slave patrols watched for runaways or assisted owners in enforcing the slave codes on their plantations. The slave patrols function was to police slaves, especially runaways and defiant slaves. Their main duties were to catch runaway slaves and to. Thomas lincoln, moreover, had also served on slave patrols. From their experimental colonial beginnings, slave patrols bound elite planters to less wealthy white farmers and helped white south carolinians enforce their perceived racial superiority. Slave patrols in the southern colonies the slave patrols emerged from a combination of the night watch, used in northern colonies, and the barbadian slave code initially employed by barbadians settlers in south carolina in the early 1700s. The navys african slave trade patrol was established to search for and bring to justice the dealers in human misery.
The slave patrols consisted of citizens who regulated the activity of slaves as their civic obligation for pay, rewards, or exemption from other duties. Second, while primary attention is given to the drama of slave escapes to the free states of the north and to canada, 1 randolph paul runyon, delia webster and the underground railroad lexington. The legacy of slavery and racism did not end after the civil war. Writing in 1855, abolitionist frederick douglass made clear which white people benefited and which white people did not when it came to american slaverythe slaveholders, by encouraging the enmity of the poor, laboring white man against the black, succeeded in making the said white man almost as much a slave as the black slave himself. Law and violence in virginia and the carolinas by sally hadden provided much needed context for the relationship between law enforcement and people of color. Slave patrols first emerged in south carolina in the early 1700s, but historical documents also identify the existence of slave patrols in most other parts of the southern region refer to the reichel article included at the end of this section. The patrol consisted of roving bands of armed white citizens who would stop, question, and punish slaves caught without a permit to travel. Slave patrols began with colonial attempts to regulate slavery through laws that limited enslaved peoples abilities and required all settlers to assist in enforcing the slave codes. The history of police in america and the first force time. From 1790 to 1860, the slave population of kentucky was never more than onequarter of the total population. Slave patrols were usually locally organized groups of young white men, both middleclass slave owners and lowerclass yeomen farmers. Drawing on a variety of sources including legislation, court cases, letters, diaries, and slave narratives, sally hadden provides a finely detailed account of the origins, functions, impact, and legacy of slave patrols, with the aim of enhancing our. We need to learn this dual history if we want to attack policing in a.
In 1704, the colony of carolina developed the nations first slave patrol. The social history of crime and punishment in america. Slave patrols helped to maintain the economic order and to assist the wealthy landowners in recovering and punishing slaves who essentially were considered property. Slave patrols had the legal right to enter, without warrant, the plantation grounds of any georgian. The history of policing in the united states, part 1 police. American police practices based on slave patrols nation. Some of the primary policing institutions there were the slave patrols tasked with chasing down runaways and preventing slave revolts, potter says.
Police training should start with a history lesson on slavery laws. Obscured from our view of slaves and masters in america is a critical third party. In the southern states the development of american policing followed a different path. The genesis of the modern police organization in the south is the slave patrol platt 1982. While night watch groups were established in the northern colonies, groups of white men organized into slave patrols in the southern colonies. Slave patrols called patrollers, patterrollers, pattyrollers or paddy rollers, by the slaves, were. Slave patrols in response to these actions, many restrictions were imposed on slaves across the south. Slavery in the ohio valley can be traced to some of the earliest explorations west of.
A brief history of slavery in kentucky and timeline are included to provide context. From slave patrols to traffic stops 4 june 2019, by connie hassettwalker a new slogan for an old problem. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. On new years day ten white men are chosen, who are called patrols. Memes claim that modern law enforcement evolved out of slave patrols. Slave patrols and the origins of the police in america. Those are the same entities that back and support the unjust killings of black people at the hands of police today.
Page 4 of 6 the social history of crime and punishment in america. Slave patrols, packs of negro dogs and and policing black communities larry h. Slave patrols, packs of negro dogs and and policing black. Slave life in virginia and kentucky, or, fifty years of slavery in the southern states of america, by francis fedric. Haddens book specifically provided historical background for the relationship between african americans and law enforcement. The history of policing in the united states police studies. Hence, the slave patrol should be considered a forerunner of modern american law enforcement. A brief history of slavery and the origins of american policing. It was both informal and communal, which is referred to as the watch, or privateforprofit policing, which is called the big stick spitzer, 1979.
Slave life in virginia and kentucky, or, fifty years of slavery in the southern states of america, by francis fedric about collections. I patroller s name, do swear, that i will as searcher for guns, swords, and other weapons among the slaves in my district, faithfully, and as privately as i can, discharge the trust reposed in me as the law directs, to the best of my power. In this respect, kentucky plantations were ex actly like their southern counterparts. Aug 19, 2014 this is the story of power in this country. Cassius clay read the manual and was so impressed that he urged fee to. To which are prefixed miscellaneous observations respecting the united states lexington, ky. Prior to 1792, kentucky formed the farwestern frontier of virginia, which had a long history of slavery and indentured servitude. Spruill professor of history, morehouse college abstract this paper explores the slave origins of southern law enforcement and an overlooked legacy of antebellum slave patrolling revealed. If we understand policing as a spectrum of tactics and techniques drawn from both slave patrols and civil servants, then we begin to see that policing adapts itself to what is socially permissible. Pdf slavery is fundamentally an economic phenomenon. Adams, of the 168th regiment, virginia militia, started a slave patrol in pittsylvania county, va.
After the civil war, when the ku klux klan served the same purpose of controlling blacks as the slave patrols had, many whites and later historians mistook the surface behavior of blacks for their genuine feelings. The history of slavery in kentucky dates from the earliest permanent european settlements in. Harris soon after became a bankrupt, went to new orleans to recruit his finances, failed, removed to kentucky, became a maniac, and died. Ive generally cleaned these records out to only include names whether they receive named slaves in will or not. The slave patrols helped to maintain the economic order in the southern colonies. This patrol is always on duty every sunday, going to each plantation under their supervision, entering every slave cabin, and examining closely the conduct of the slaves. As university of georgia social work professor michael a. From slave patrol militias to school shootings the second amendment states.
A brief history of slavery and the origins of american. Some slaveholders also paid enslaved laborers when they surpassed their daily work quotas. Sep 26, 2016 memes claim that modern law enforcement evolved out of slave patrols. Long illegal, the infamous slave trade was declared by congress in 1819 to be piracy, and as such, punishable by death. Harvard professor stephen carter has already written about the slave patrols. This modulation of violence flies in the face of the idea that we are all equal before the law. Slave codes ended with the civil war but were replaced by other discriminatory laws known as black codes during reconstruction 186577. A duty of all white men until the 1830s, patrolling connected nonslaveholders with the slave system, reinforcing poor whites legal supremacy and control over blacks. Ferguson, institutionalized racism and the militarization of police. Institutional violence in a community of color article pdf available in critical sociology 416 september 2015 with. Like the early slave patrols, current policing systems reinforce racist practices by other culpable agencies, departments, and entities. Slave patrols helped to maintain the economic order and to assist the wealthy landowners in.
After repeated and severe floggings in quick succession, for the same cause, the slave, in despair of pleasing him, cut off his own hand. Slave patrols were a crucial mechanism of slave control in the colonial and antebellum periods of south carolinas history. May 18, 2017 some of the primary policing institutions there were the slave patrols tasked with chasing down runaways and preventing slave revolts, potter says. More than a hundred years earlier, in 1704, the colony of carolina developed the fledgling united states first slave patrol. That is, they use the violence they can get away with. Slave patrols and night watches, which later became modern police departments, were both. It was both informal and communal, which is referred to as the watch, or privateforprofit policing, which.
Examining the nexus of racial profiling in america october 31, 20. Pdf police brutality involves the use of unnecessary andor excessive violence by police. Early kentucky history was built on slave labor, and it was an integral part of the states economy. A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. Robinson has written, by the time john adams became the second u. There were no more mounted slave patrols for a long time afterwards in that county. State of kentucky report, printed by authority of the legislation of kentucky, the following units consisted of the union kentucky volunteers during the civil war 18611865. Unlike the watches, constables, and sheriffs who had some nonpolicing duties, the slave patrols operated solely for the enforcement of colonial and state laws.
University of kentucky press, 1945, by harry toulmin, ed. As southern colonies developed an agricultural economic system, slave trade became indispensable to keep. What is the difference between slave patrols and modern day policing. The selections below offer a representative sample of this evidence from slave narratives, former slave interviews as transcribed by the interviewers. Pdf what is the difference between slave patrols and modern. Any person who finds a slave carrying weapons can seize him or her and take the slave before a justice of the peace. Harvard university press, 2001, journal of we use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. Slave patrols is a valuable resource for scholars seeking to learn more about some neglected aspects of southern and american history. Nov 04, 20 placide, macherie and harris, duchess, from slave patrols to jim crow laws. Jun 25, 20 the development of policing in the united states closely followed the development of policing in england.
These are the slave records from my research on kentucky families. A duty of all white men until the 1830s, patrolling connected nonslaveholders with the slave system, reinforcing poor. Take into consideration that even though these units are listed some of them never came into existence due to manpower or other unknown circumstances. This book completes the grim picture of slavery by showing us the origins, the nature, and the extent of slave patrols in virginia and the carolinas from the late seventeenth century through the end of the civil war. Growth in the slave population and threats from abolitionists led southern states to adopt new slave codes in the midnineteenth century. From the earliest instances of american slave patrols to. Modern policing stems from both slave patrols in the american south and the creation of a disciplined working class in england. Should anyone venture to disobey this law, he will most likely be caught by the patrol and given thirtynine lashes. Slave patrols, constabulary bands of white citizens, enforced north carolinas slave codes from the mideighteenth century until the end of the civil war.